Clock with a rotating advertising disk



- Feb. 7,1939. H. GRASS 2,146,138

CLOCK WITH A ROTATING ADVERTISING DISK Filed July 8, 1956 //7 venzon:

i Wd M 5 070 4 [5 A TOR V 75 Patented F ch. 7, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE Heinrich Grass, Berlin, Germany Application July 8, 1936, SerialNo. 89,490 In Germany July 18, 1935 2 Claims.

This invention refers to a clock to which is connected an advertisingdevice in the form of a rotating disk carrying advertising matter, the

object of which is to produce a clock with a simpler and more certainaction in which the advertising matter can be introduced and displayedin an effective manner.

Clocks with rotating advertising disks are known. Their object is todirect and attract the glances of people who wishto ascertain the time,at the same time to the advertisement. In clocks of the known type, thespindle of the second hand carries a disk with advertising matterthereon, rotating in front of the dial with the numbers thereon. Thediameter of this disk must be less than the inner diameter of the circleof the numerals for otherwise the numerals would not be visible. Becauseof this, the advertisement often passes unnoticed.

Clocks are also knownfwhich besides the circle of numerals, carry arotating rim bearing advertising matter behind the face of the dialbearing the numerals. In this case, the drive and the mounting of thering carrying the advertising matter cause difficulties.

The present invention unites the advantages of both devices, in otherwords the possibility of increasing the size of the advertising matter,and having a central mounting in front of the numeral dial. Theinvention consists of a centrally mounted rotating advertising disk,placed in front of the numeral dial, said disk carrying advertisingmatter on the rim outside the usual ring of numerals and being formed sothat its central portion is transparent. The transparent central portionleaves the numeral dial with the numerals thereon visible and serves asa carrier for the outer part of the disk carrying the advertisingmatter, the size of which can be practically unlimited, as theadvertising matter is arranged outside the circle of the numerals.

Instead of a fiat ring oi advertising matter of the type described or inaddition to such an arrangement, a hollow cylindrical part can beattached to the edge of the disk which likewise carries advertisingmatter, and if desired may surround the housing of the clock.

The part of the disk carrying the advertising matter can also be madetransparent like the central part. In this case, it is possible toilluminate the numeral dial and the advertising matter together. If. thenumeral dial is also made transparent then the light source serving forthe illumination of both, can be arranged behind the numeral dial whereit is protected from moisture and dust. In front of the light source,there can be arranged in any known manner, a hood which also can carryadvertising matter. Besides the front side, the back side of the clockcan also be provided with a rotating disk carrying advertising matter,in which case if required, both disks can be mounted on the samespindle.

If the advertising disk is connected to the spindle of the second hand,it can be provided with a stripe which rotates and acts as a pointer orindicator of the seconds. Instead of this, or besides this, it can alsobear numerals representing the seconds and operate in conjunction with astationary pointer or window.

Since, in the case of. clocks of large diameter the rotating disk willhave a proportionately great weight so that it cannot be carried bythethin spindle of the second hand of a clockwork, if required, accordingto the invention, the disk carrying the advertising matter is providedwith a central mounting independent of the mounting of the drive. Inthis case it is connected with the driving mechanism by means of acoupling, which allows for a certain amount of transverse displacement,so that the mounting of the clockwork is relieved from the weight of theadvertising disk. Any desired coupling can be used which carries outthese conditions. In some cases a flexible spindle is suificient orinstead of this the clock in itself can be mounted flexibly so that itcan accommodate itself as a whole, so that if there is any slightinexactness in the positioning of the disk bearing, the clockworkmounting will not be submitted to any undue stress.

The bearing for the rotating disk carrying the advertising matter can inthis case, be mounted, for example; on the covering disk of the clockhousing, so that its axis runs in the prolongation of the axis of theclockwork so that the visibility of the numeral dial will not beinterfered with by any projecting parts.

In order to clean the advertising disk and when required, to renew theadvertising matter or to change the advertising disk, the cover glass ispreferably constructed to swing open, and the coupling between thespindle carrying the ad vertising matter and the spindle of theclockwork is so formed that a coupling up can take place in practicallyany desired position by a simple closing of the clock housing. On theoutside th bearing is covered With a cap, which if desired can itselfcarry advertising matter. When coupling up, in order to avoid anoverloading of the 1 the clock casing becoming too thick. In the caseof. very large clocks it may be preferable, in spite of the centralmounting of the advertising disk,

to use a special driving device besides the clockwork. This can bearranged under the hood of the cover-glass or also at the edge of thedisk. Furthermore it may be desired, in spite of the relief to themounting of the clockwork, to avoid the Weight and the inertia of thedisk carrying the advertising matter by using a framework instead of aglass disk, which may for example consist of two light metal ringsbetween which there is stretched material bearing the advertisingmatter, and which is connected with the central hub by means of a fewspokes. These spokes can, if required, act as second hands for theclock.

The drawing shows a sectional view of a large size advertising clockaccording to my invention.

In this figure 2' is the case of a large clock carrying the numeral dialat 3, to which the clockwork 4 is attached, the hour hand 5 and theminute hand 6' being positioned in front of the dial. The transparentadvertising disk I, which bears the advertising matter around theborder, is mounted co-axially with the second hand spindle 8 of theclockwork, but is not at- ;tached therewith. It is rigidly attached to aseparate spindle 9 by means of a nut III. The spindle 9 is mounted, inthe usual way as in the case of bicycle hubs, by means of ball bearingsII, I2 in a hub I3, which itself is secured by a nut I4 in a centralaperture of the glass sheet I 5 which covers the whole of the front ofthe clock case 21 and is held against the cover glass on the oppositeside by a flange I6. through the sheet I5. If it is desired to diminishthe size of the clock case 2', then the flange I6 can be combined withthe wide portion I! of the hub I3 which carries the ball bearing I2 sothat practically the whole hub lies outside the glass sheet I5. Thebearing is covered on the outside by a cap I8, the outer surface ofwhich can also carry advertising matter. In order to couple the spindle9 with the second hand spindle 8, the latter is provided with a pin I9,at a right angle, which co-operates with two pins 20 on a plate 2 I,which is rotatably mounted on the spindle 9, and which is pressed by aspring 22 against a flange 23 on this spindle. The tension of the springis arranged so that when the spindle 9 is held stationary, the disc 2|can be carried around with the spindle 8, without the motor of theclockwork l being overloaded. Therefore, when the coupling is engaged,the clockwork can run undisturbed, although a certain time is necessarybefore the advertising disc I is brought to the speed of rotation of thesecond hand spindle.

The hub I3 projects outwardly If desired, a small motor 24 may bearranged in the casing 2, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3. Thedriving shaft of said motor 24 is provided with a beveled driving wheel,which is in frictional contact with the beveled edge of the advertisingdisk I, so that the rotation of the disk I may be caused by said motor24, if due to large dimensions of the disk I the weight thereof is toogreat to allow the disk to be driven by the shaft 8 for the second hand.

In order to facilitate changes, the disk I can i be provided with aspecial hub 26 which remains rigidly attached to the disk I and duringthe change makes sure of an exact centering, or the disk I can be pulledout together with the hub I3. A slight inexactness in fitting onthe hubI3 is of no consequence for the driving motor, since the coupling withthe second hand spindle 8 allows a certain play. The part of the diskwhich bears the advertising matter can be made translucent instead oftransparent in order to improve the visibility or legibility by day.

Further, as a protection against atmospheric and other externalinfluences, at protecting housing can be arranged in any known manneroutside the advertising disk or connected thereto.

Furthermore, the disks can be driven with a speed of twice the speed ofrevolution of the second hand, if the driving device is suitablyarranged. Finally, instead of a synchronous clockwork movement any otherdesired clockwork can be used.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my saidinvention, and in. a

what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is:

1. In a mechanism of the character described, a clock provided withclock hands, a rotating second-shaft actuated by said clock, a drivenmember bearing advertising matter mounted coaxially in respect to saidsecond-shaft, means to rotate said driven member independently of saidsecond-shaft and alternative means to couple said driven member andsecond-shaft whereby said member may be driven by said second-shaft,said coupling means comprising spring means adapted to create slippagebetween said driven member and 7 said second-shaft whereby overloadingof said second-shaft actuating mechanism is avoided. V

2. In a mechanism of the character described, a casing, a clock mountedto said casing provided with clock hands and a rotating second-shaftactuated by said clock, a' stationary transparent when said drivenmember and second-shaft are coupled.

HEINRICH GRASS.

